My Stroke - 40 x 30 in.

My Stroke began as a doodle I created during a discipleship-counseling session after being discharged from rehab at the Fanning Center. The flowing red droplets represent the brain bleed I suffered at the end of June 2023. They come from a singular source. The textured pattern in them is reminiscent of the nerve ganglia that no longer function because of the stroke. Some of the red droplets contain a stencilled rose. You may ask why a rose. The explanation is as follows. In various translations of the Bible Jesus is called the Rose of Sharon in the Song of Solomon 2:1. The fragrance of a rose is most pungent when a petal is crushed. Jesus was crushed for mankind when He was crucified on the Cross at Calvary. Out of that most devastating of circumstances came the fragrance of God’s love for humanity. A fragrance that when inhaled lifts an individual out of this temporal world into the eternal embrace of Christ. The thorns at the top of the painting illustrate the suffering encountered by Jesus on His journey to be the sweet fragrance for humanity. This painting depicts my personal experience of being crushed by the devastating circumstances surrounding my stroke. What fragrance was released when I was crushed by the life-changing stroke? The experience of God’s love for me through Christ was and is the fragrance that permeates all aspects of my life. An experience that manifested itself most profoundly as I lay paralyzed from the stroke. The reality is, that my life was in the hands of Christ and my choice was and is to trust Him. The empowerment to recover from the stroke came from trusting in the indwelling life of Christ. The trumpet blowing angels, almost obscured in the back ground of the painting, are symbolic of the victory experienced. Victory over devastating circumstances is found in trusting God no matter the outcome.